Wednesday, August 01, 2007

July started off with some telecommuting and vacation on Mt. Desert Island in Maine. It was a beautiful week, with July Fourth falling on a Wednesday, causing all sorts of confusion for professionals wondering what weekend would be the "holiday" weekend.

Business travels took me to a power plant on the shores of Lake Ontario (to see a massive cold front come in over the lake), the Baltimore area, and the craziness of northern NJ and western Long Island. The traffic I experienced on the trip to NJ and Long Island was insane. It took two hours to get from the East Hanover area to Westbury, NY, a trip of 67 miles on highways. The number of people there is just astounding, and the amount of fuel that we are all gobbling...I could do the math, but it's A LOT. It is at times like that, when I look around and see what's going on, that I wonder, "where's this all going?" As a side note, we crossed the Verrazano Narrows Bridge (shown above from an MTA website). I love the way the photograph romanticizes this feat of human accomplishment. The green trees framing the foundations of the bridge. When you drive over it, it's noisy, crowded, dirty, and the scenery is acres and acres of refineries and industrial development. It's like a scene out of Bladerunner.

Air Travel:~600 miles~600 miles round trip from Bradley International Airport, CT to BWI

Some energy related news from the Environment News Service; House Passes Energy Bill, Battles Loom in Senate. There remains much to reconcile between the House and the Senate's versions as well as the looming threat of a presidential veto. Given the history of energy bills that fail to help us reduce our energy use, I am not holding my breath that this will be some sort of breakthrough piece of legislation.